Brother Dearest
by Defenestrator
Summary: It's time for Sasuke to honour his part of his deal with Orochimaru. However...


"It's time."  
The voice came out of the gloom, and to the casual listener, it would have sounded almost friendly. But Sasuke knew the speaker, and he knew the ominous overtones underscoring those two words. But he had no intention of keeping his part of the deal. He'd learnt all he needed to know, and now it was time to leave to kill _that_ person. It was his revenge, and he wanted to savour it himself. He slipped into the shadows, making his way to the door.

Suddenly a hand grabbed his wrist in a vicelike grip. Kabuto materialized from the darkness, the dim light from the torches glinting off his glasses.  
"We can't have that now, can we?" he asked lightly. "I'm pretty sure we had a deal. Don't make me do something I'll regret, I'd prefer delivering the body to Orochimaru-sama unharmed."  
Not relinquishing his grip, he started walking back towards the room. With his free hand, Sasuke reached for the kunai in his pouch. But before he could grasp it, he found himself jerked in close, Kabuto's kunai at his throat. Leaping up, Sasuke used both legs to kick him away. As the fight began, neither combatant noticed the pair of Sharingan staring impassively from a rafter.

Sasuke easily knew he had the upper hand. The new jutsus he'd learned in the past few years, combined with his own natural talents, gave him a level of skill higher than that of Kabuto's, and both knew it. Throwing himself through the air, he prepared to deal his Shishi Rendan (Lion Combo) attack to the immobilized Kabuto. But as his body sped through the air, he felt a blinding pain as something pierced his chest. He hit the groud, and as his senses faded away, he saw Orochimaru approach from behind.  
"I really didn't want to kill you – I was looking forward to using your body. But I no longer have the strength to keep you locked in place long enough for this Jutsu to be carried out. I was counting on Kabuto, but it seems you've grown powerful beyond our expectations. It really is a shame… what a waste.."  
He walked off, Kabuto in tow, extinguishing the torches as he did. Sasuke didn't know when he slipped from the darkness of reality to that of his mind, but he thought he felt himself being lifted gently before all sensation disappeared.

It was a familiar face that greeted him when he opened his eyes. Although most of its features were blocked out by a bright light that surrounded them, he could still identify the person.  
"YOU!," he spat out at Itachi in a whisper. "So, this is death? I wasn't expecting to go to the same place as you."  
But as he sat up, the figure collapsed into his arms, and the light faded away into inky blackness. Sasuke realized he was still in the corridor where he had fallen. Feeling for his wound in sudden alarm, he noticed it was no longer there. So his brother had healed him. But why? As he lifted Itachi's prone figure, Itachi stirred slightly.  
"Sasuke, you idiot. You think this, here, is real strength? Strength enough to beat me?" he rasped in a contemptuous tone. "This isn't even your own strength, but that which you've crawled to someone else for."  
He stopped for a moment, as if out of breath, and Sasuke pushed him away. He didn't want to believe that his brother was right, or that now, when he felt he was ready to grasp his revenge, it would slip away from him.  
Itachi weakly continued, so softly that Sasuke had to strain to hear it, "That night, when I left you alive, I wanted you to find your true strength, unrestrained by anyone or anything. But you ran to him instead. I was here for Akatsuki, to ensure Orochimaru wouldn't get your body. And he won't, little brother. Go, and don't make me sorry I traded my life for yours."  
Sasuke grabbed Itachi's shoulders in alarm, pulling Itachi towards him.

"What do you mean, you traded it?" he demanded. "It was just a wound!"

Itachi laughed, or tried to. With great effort, he lifted up his arm and flicked Sasuke on the forehead.  
"Stupid brother, you think Orochimaru would leave it at 'just a wound'? There was poison there. You were already dead when I got to you. But there's a powerful jutsu, where you can trade your life force for someone else's. Make me proud, little brother. I always knew you could surpass me. Prove me right…"  
With that, his barely audible voice faded away, and he slumped forward onto Sasuke.

Sasuke, his eyes burning hotly in his head, slowly got to his feet. Picking up Itachi, he stumbled to the exit.  
"I hated you… I hated you so much… Why did you have to change that just before you died?"  
He clutched Itachi's rapidly cooling body closer to his as he continued, "I promise you, I will become stronger than you ever were. And I'll prove it by taking down Orochimaru, one-on-one.  
"But first, Aniki, I have to give you a proper burial."

It was a simple tombstone that stood among all the others in the Uchiha burial grounds. Like all of them, that tombstone was engraved with the sign of a fan. Sasuke had refused to deny his brother that honour, fighting bitterly with those that had said it was a sign of disrespect to the rest of the Uchiha clan. But as the sole Uchiha remaining in this world, Sasuke had gotten his way. And now, along with the fan, were engraved these simple words:

"Uchiha Itachi

Beloved Brother

You were only hated so because you were loved even more"

A/N: Full credit must be given to PactumServa for the ending to this. Only she could come up with something so wonderful. :)


End file.
